A type of small watercraft, referred to as a personal watercraft (PWC), is of a sitting-type and may be designed for riding by one person by having an engine arranged in a slightly front portion forward from the center of a hull, and for operation suitable for aggressive races by having its center of gravity in the front portion.
In one example of such a sitting-type small watercraft, the engine is arranged in a space extending in front of a seat. An engine hood is provided above a deck so that it covers a deck opening above the engine so as to open and close.
The engine hood extends from a front end portion of the deck to a front end portion of the seat, and a steering handle is provided in a rear end portion of the engine hood. The steering handle is coupled with a steering nozzle of a water jet pump through a mechanical coupling mechanism.
The engine hood is rotatably supported by the deck so as to open and close at a front end portion thereof. The engine hood is configured so that it can be opened by lifting with the steering handle to the front.
As described above, the engine hood of the sitting-type small watercraft that is provided with the steering handle in the rear end portion thereof is relatively heavy to open and close. Therefore, a lock mechanism that locks the engine hood at a predetermined open position is necessary when the engine hood is opened to the position (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-25691).
One example of conventional lock mechanism is a stay type. This lock mechanism is provided with a stay that is pivotably supported by the deck at a lower end portion so that it can be accommodated under the engine hood. With this configuration, a user may manually lift the engine hood to open the hood and, then, the user may lift the stay by lifting a free end of the stay with one hand. A hook portion formed at this free end is hooked in a hole formed in a lower surface of the engine hood so that the engine hood can be locked in the open position.
Another example of a lock mechanism is a gas-damper type. This lock mechanism is to couple the engine hood and the deck with a gas damper. The engine hood can be locked to the open position by action of a gas damper (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-25691).
However, for the stay-type lock mechanism as mentioned above, in order to lock the engine hood in the open position, the user is required to operate the stay using one hand while holding the engine hood in the open position with the other hand. As mentioned above, since the steering handle is formed in the rear end portion of the engine hood, the engine hood is relatively heavy and, thus, it is burdensome to hold the engine hood in the open position with one hand.
On the other hand, for the gas-damper type lock mechanism, although it does not require such a user operation, the lock mechanism itself is costly.